ABOUT THE FILM:Razing Liberty Square is the urgent and clear-eyed portrait of a Miami community poised at the epicenter of America’s ongoing climate and housing crises. Built on a ridge in 1937, Liberty Square was one of the first public housing projects in the U.S. During its heyday, the neighborhood functioned as a near-utopia for working- and middle-class Black families, but with a decline in city funding due to white flight during the 1960s, the community slipped into poverty. 

Today, with sea level rise endangering the low-lying beaches, private developers are exploiting the fact that Liberty Square sits on the highest and driest point in Miami to establish commercial retail spaces and mixed-income housing. Director Katja Esson zeroes in on various community leaders—some in favor of redevelopment, others against it—each of whom is trying to shape the neighborhood to reflect their respective ideals. As the depiction of issues currently facing many American cities, this documentary is an arresting, nuanced reckoning with the impacts of climate gentrification. —Ben Rendich

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: Katja Esson is a German-born filmmaker based in Miami. She received an Academy Award nomination for her documentary Ferry Tales, which premiered on HBO in 2004. Her other award-winning films include Vertical Traveler, Hole in the Sky, and the docudrama Hooker, Harlot, Whore: Stories of Prostitution, all of which premiered on Arte. Her film Poetry of Resilience was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Award in 2012, and Skydancer premiered on PBS in 2013. Katja was awarded the Simons Fellowship of the Humanities in 2007 and her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Knight Foundation, ITVS, IDA Enterprise, NYSCA, the Redford Center, Sundance, and the Ford Foundation.